Terminal enclosures are used to provide telephone lines from the street cables to multiple tenants in residential or commercial buildings. Typically telephone lines extend into a splicing connector disposed within the housing of the terminal enclosure. From the terminal enclosure, the telephone wires are extended to various tenant locations within the building via a cross-connect block. These terminal enclosures may be installed either inside or outside of the building.
In many instances it may become necessary to extend several telephone lines from the terminal enclosure to a single tenant unit in the building. For illustration purposes, one way to accomplish such a connection is to employ an interconnection system known as the RJ 21 connector. Typically, several telephone line pairs are bundled within a cable, which terminates at one end with a male or female RJ 21 interconnect plug. The other end of the cable is open so that the individual wires could be connected to connection pins disposed within the cross-connect block of the entrance terminal protector. Another cable that includes an appropriate RJ 21 interconnect plug engages with a building entrance protector terminal RJ 21 interconnect plug and extends to the desired unit within the building. However, the strength of the connection between the interconnect plugs is dependent on the manner of connection between the two connectors. For example, the two connectors may not be effectively connected where the two plugs tilt away from each other because of the strain exerted by their respective cables. As one skilled in the art will recognize, the problem of weak or unstable cable connections are not limited to RJ21 plugs, but are quite common with connections involving all sorts of interconnect plugs.
A number of different cable connectors are available for establishing electrical connections between the conductors of a pair of multi-conductor communication cables. These connectors suffer from the problem of getting disengaged while in service, causing a power out. The prior art discloses numerous methods to alleviate this problem. For example, some cable connectors are manufactured and designed so that they snap together, while other connectors involve the use of bail hooks, springs or similar devices. There are other connectors that have threaded fittings whereby the male and female connectors may be joined together by means of bolts.
While the prior art demonstrates various methods of securing mating cable connectors together, these prior methods suffer from one or more deficiencies. For example, the joining and connecting of cable connectors, particularly those that are bolted together, is time consuming. Furthermore, these securing methods have the disadvantage of being completely dependent on the design of the cable connectors.
To overcome the problem of poorly designed cable connectors, some have suggested the use of brackets with the cable connectors. These brackets are usable with a variety of cable connectors, and are not dependent on the connection mechanisms of the cable connectors. The use of Velcro.RTM. straps for fixedly fastening the two mating connectors together has been suggested. However, engaging and removal of the Velcro.RTM. fasteners tend to be difficult and cumbersome.
In some situations, two mating connector pairs are disposed back-to-back adjacent to each other. Velcro.RTM. straps have also been employed in such instances to secure the connections of the mating connector pairs. However, the lateral force produced by the Velcro.RTM. fasteners may result in tilting and damage to the connectors. Additionally, in the prior art, removing one connector requires disconnection of security from all of the other connectors as well.
Thus there is a need for a bracket for cable connectors that provides for adequate support for cable connections, easy engagement and disengagement of the connections, and that incorporates fastening means that keeps the connectors fixedly fastened, without exerting lateral force on the connectors.